Skills England Bill – Will it Get Britain Building?

The Labour party has aimed high and set itself the ambitious target of building 1.5 million homes over their five-year term. After a rocky year in the construction industry, this is exactly what we need; bold targets will jumpstart activity in the sector. But the government will need to consider every potential hurdle if it is to get its homes off the ground.

Labour has recognised that its mission will require significant reforms to planning laws and environmental rules, which is a positive start. It has been gutsy in its approach to these issues, which is absolutely necessary if we are to turn the page on a stagnant period for housebuilding and “get Britain building again”. There is one problem area, though, which the government has attacked with rather less urgency: the worker shortage.

The worker shortage has been confronting our sector for some time. Since 2019, we have lost 300,000 workers, who have taken their years of expertise with them. Now the workforce is stretched to the point of snapping, just as Labour orders more and more building projects.

The Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) reports that private housing is one of the top three areas bearing the brunt of the shortage. Many of the skilled workers that are required for building homes, including roofers, electricians and carpenters, are in short supply. This, surely, should mean that tackling the issue is at the top of the government’s to-do list.

Some may be under the impression that Rachel Reeves’s plans to scrap major infrastructure projects like the Stonehenge tunnel and the Restoring Your Railways project would give us some breathing room, but the reality is that there are still not enough hands on deck.

With the Sizewell C Nuclear Power Station works set to begin in October of this year, and plans to build more prisons, schools, laboratories, and data centres (the list goes on), demand for skilled workers is only going to increase. The construction workforce is made up of some of the most dedicated professionals who put in long hours and tireless effort, but there simply is not enough of them to meet demand.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer has presented us with the Skills England Bill as a potential solution but, while this policy has well-meaning foundations, it’s no miracle antidote.

The initiative is designed to patch over the UK-wide skills gap by freeing up apprenticeship levy funding. Companies would have more choice over how they use the funding, and could select courses in the skills that they are most in need of – a reform to the older, more rigid system that I am in favour of.

Skills England may provide a long-term fix for the skills squeeze that the construction sector is feeling, but ministers will need to conjure up a much speedier solution if they want to see their vision of 1.5 million new homes realised. Apprentices don’t magically learn skills overnight; it will take years to build up the workforce we need if we rely solely on this policy.

I’m all for encouraging young people into the industry – after all, it is home to some of the most innovative, solution-driven thinkers that this country has. A career in construction can provide young people with practical skills and the opportunity to climb through the ranks to a well-paid and rewarding career, but sadly not everybody shares my view. The truth is that many are disinterested in a career in construction. In CITB’s Migration and Construction Report, many employers singled this out as the reason for why they are so understaffed.

So, even if apprenticeships could be completed overnight, I’m not sure the uptake would be enough. CITB reports that 251,500 more workers will be needed to meet UK construction output by 2028 – that’s a pretty sizeable number that’s going to require more than just apprenticeships.

When announcing the policy, Starmer argued that we should not be “pulling the easy lever on importing skills”. However migrant workers are incredibly important on and off construction sites. This “imported” talent brings with it years of experience and will be pivotal to the government’s plans to boost housebuilding.

If we lose migrant talent now, Labour’s targets are looking unrealistic.

The skills shortage is already hurting the sector and we cannot afford to exacerbate the issue. The government must keep this top of mind as they look to implement new immigration policies. Shut overseas talent out, and it risks a construction activity slump that will be costly to the sector as well as to the UK’s economic growth.

The worker shortage must be tackled with the same vigour that Labour have approached restrictive planning and environmental laws. Now is not the time for idealistic, long-term fixes – they must be bold in searching for a solution that will fill the skills gap now.

Source: Reaction